Tam
by Wingedrider
Summary: Tam is one of the hold children at Benden Hold but her life will change forever as a result of a dare from her worst enemy. For good? Or...bad?


**Tam**

_Beginnings_

Tam peeked from behind the crack, making sure to stay in the shadows. _I mustn't be seen_, she thought. There were lots of people out there, all talking excitedly. Tam retreated, feeling afraid. What she was about to do was very dangerous, but she had promised. If she didn't do it, she would be marked as a coward for life.

She thought back to what had all started it. It happened just that morning and she remembered _very_ clearly. She was at Benden Hold playing happily with the other children. They had just finished a game and were talking of what they could play next when suddenly, a voice said, "Let's play dares." All heads turned to the voice. It was Mara. She was one of the candidates chosen for the queen egg, and Tam's worst enemy. The queen was the most hoped for, so Tam was very surprised when Mara was chosen. All the other children were in awe of her, but not Tam. Tam was relieved that Mara was finally leaving, since once you impressed, or paired up, with a dragon, you would live in the Wayr with the rest of the dragon riders.

All the children loved that game, even Tam. Tam loved doing daring things like climbing the tallest tree or tallest building at the Hold and yelling at the top of the her lungs till an adult comes really red in the face from the running and was pretty angry by then and demanded that she stopped her yelling and come down that instant. It wasn't really a dangerous game, at least, according to Tam's standards.

Tam saw the wicked gleam in Mara's eyes and decided that she did not want to be part of whatever Mara was planning this time. She had gotten into enough trouble in the past. She was just quietly turning away when Mara, probably seeing her retreat yelled in a loud voice so that everyone could hear, "Hey! Where are you going Tam? Since I suggested this game, I get to start and I'm daring you!"

Tam didn't answer.

"Are you ready or are you a coward?" Her challenge rang through the air and everyone gasped. That was the worst insult you could call someone. Tam turned on one heel slowly to face Mara and looked her straight in the eye and said softly but calmly, "Bring it on."

She put the jerky which was supposed to be her breakfast in the pocket of her skirt and stood prepared for what was coming. Mara had a nasty habit of leaving the nastiest and hardest ones for her.

"I thought that would do the trick." Mara grinned, obviously pleased. She cleared her throat as if to make a grand announcement. "Here goes: I dare you to run across the hatching ground at Benden Wayr from the secret entrance to the exit, bare footed!" Tam froze. That was worse than she had expected. The hatching ground was a wide bowl with sand on the ground. Since hatching was nearing, the ground would be especially hot. You had to wear special shoes or you would burn your feet. Running across with bare feet would be _very_ painful. Now, there were eggs there and they were due to hatch very soon. When they hatched, they would be impressed by the candidates of their choosing and be partners for life, plus they could talk with their human telepathically. It would be a great honor to be a candidate, or even more if you were actually chosen by a dragonet. There were always more candidates than eggs.

Running across with bare feet was not the only dangerous thing. Since the eggs were there now, their mother, the golden queen Ramoth, who was rider was Lessa, would be there watching over her eggs. No one was allowed in the hatching ground except the candidates and their supervisors. But that was also only on a hatching day. Ramoth would be very angry if she found someone unwelcome near her precious eggs. Tam shivered once before she caught herself. She really did not want to do it. But now she had no choice. She had her pride to uphold.

"When then?" she asked bravely.

Suddenly, they heard a loud humming coming from behind them. Everyone swiveled their heads in that direction. The humming was coming from the hatching ground. Tam saw that the air above the hatching ground was full of dragons of different colors: brown, green, and blue. Their riders and passengers were only tiny figures on their backs. Each one landed quickly, never bumping into each other. Then, a whole wing of about ten bronzes appeared. Each, Tam knew, carried a girl candidate for the one queen egg. The candidates of the other eggs came through a passageway into the grounds.

Abruptly, another bronze appeared and started flying towards them.

All of a sudden, Tam remembered that Mara was also a candidate. He must be Mara's escort to the hatching. When the bronze landed, Mara quickly ran over to it and scrambled aboard, seemingly to have forgotten her dare to Tam. But just before she took off, she turned around and yelled to Tam, "I want you to go now! You'd better run, because I expect you to do it before the queen hatches. Make sure that it's _before_ the queen hatches, you hear? She usually always hatches last anyway….Can't lose my chance to have a queen with you there and in the way!" And with a laugh, she was off.

Tam's heart sank.

The others started murmuring quietly. Some started staring at her to see if she'd actually do it. Tam shrugged her shoulders indifferently, while her heart was actually starting to beat faster and faster. She had no choice. As fast as she could, Tam dashed towards the hatching ground, but she knew she wouldn't make it in time. It was too far for her to run right now and the hatching would be over in minutes. While running, she glanced around to see if she could find anything to help her go faster. Then, Tam saw a horse tethered to a tree with a man sleeping next to it up ahead to her right. She quickly ran to the horse, untied the rope and scrambled aboard. The man suddenly woke up, but before he could stop her, Tam was off with the horse. She urged the horse into a dead run.

Within minutes, she was at the base entrance of the hatching ground and swiftly jumped off the horse. Leaving the horse there, she quickly ran through the entrance but instead of heading straight to the main entrance, she turned left into a small lit passageway that led to a chamber with all kinds of other small passageways. Some were lit, being used often, and some were not. On the far right corner was a very small and narrow opening that if you didn't already know it was there, you probably wouldn't even notice it. Tam, being skinny and agile, slid through it easily and was immediately enveloped by darkness. It, being a secret tunnel and not known by many people, was very dark so Tam had to feel the walls to find her way through. Tam had only been here only once, but she had a very good memory and in addition, she wasn't afraid of the dark which made her traveling faster.

Meanwhile, she was hearing the dragon's humming grow louder and louder. She knew she was getting close. But she couldn't tell how far the hatching process already was. Faster and faster she ran, stumbling once or twice from the jagged and slippery ground.

She was all but gasping for breath from running so fast when she finally saw a thin crack of light and knew that she was, from what seemed like an eternity, finally there. The humming had stopped.

Quickly and carefully, she peeked out. She saw that the stands surrounding the sanded hatching ground was fully jam-packed with people. Some people were sitting, but most were standing and leaning down to try to see the hatching better. It seemed like the whole planet had come to see this hatching. In the hatching ground, some thirty boys in white wool robes, were in a tight circle surrounding what Tam knew, were the eggs. The wool robes were the traditional Impression garb. On their left, in their own tight circle, were eleven girls also clothed in white wool robes surrounding the golden queen egg. Tam couldn't see Mara, but she knew she was also among the girls around the queen egg.

The girls around the queen egg suddenly started backing away quickly.

For a second there, Tam held her breath. _Was the queen already hatching?_ Then, she slowly let out her breath in relief. The queen egg wasn't hatching yet. Now that the girls weren't blocking the egg from view, she could see the shiny golden egg. It was sitting on a little rise on the ground still motionless. Usually, when the shells started to hatch, they would rock back and forth a bit before the shell cracked and then the little dragonets climbed out.

The girls started to giggle a bit uncertainty. All trying to cover up their brief fright. _It seems that they are actually a bit afraid of the dragons, _Tam grinned. Even Mara, whom Tam could now see, was looking a little pale in the face.

Suddenly, the humming started again.

Tam twisted her head around towards the boys and saw that they were now also spread out. The twenty one eggs that were now visible were rocking gently back and forth. One cracked and the little dragonets slowly and unsteadily limbed out of its shell. Then another and another! One by one they walked awkwardly towards the boys. Some looked in a boys' face, as if to see if he was the right one. When a dragonet was impressed, Tam noticed, the boy's face would glow and his dragonet would croon its happiness. When a dragonet has been matched up, the boy would give the dragonet a piece of jerky because the dragonets would usually be really hungry after being confined in a shell for so long. Then the pair would walk slowly towards the exit. Five pairs were already walking towards the exit.

Tam was so fascinated in watching the pairing up that she did not notice that the queen egg was also hatching. It was not until the new queen made a high keening sound that Tam gave a start and hastily started taking off her shoes. By the time she got them off, the queen was already out of her shell and was starting to walk out. The girls around the queen started fidgeting and shooting frightened glances at each other. None of them dared to move.

The first small step Tam took on the hot sand made her feet feel like they were on fire. Tam winced. This was a really bad idea. Maybe she shouldn't do it. The queen had already hatched and it was already too late.

_At least I should try_, she thought. _It is not too late if I still try._

She took another small step and another. Each step more painful than the last. Then, she remembered that she had to run. With a sharp in take of breath, for it was too hot to take deep breaths, she started running. It was a long way to run. She could now hear and feel the people in the stands whispering and shooting angry glances at her. Tam felt her face turn red, but not as red as her feet probably were.

She was at the eggs that were hatching. She dodged around the boys and the little dragonets that were still searching and shot between a gap where there was no boy or dragonet.

Some girls, seeing Tam running towards the exit, unfroze and deciding that what she was doing was a _very_ good idea, ran towards the exit too. Mara though, was one of the ones who did not run. She scowled when Tam passed by her, but Tam was too absorbed in her running to notice.

_Almost there_, she thought. _Just a little more…Oh, do my feet burn!_

Then she passed Ramoth, the mother queen dragon. Tam did not dare to look to see how Ramoth was taking to having an intruder on the hatching ground while her eggs are hatching. She bent her head and ran right on, not daring to look at anything.

Without knowing it, Tam started veering a bit to the left.

Suddenly, Tam ran head on into a soft body. It gave a little squeak.

Tam looked up and looked into a pair of rainbow eyes. She could practically drown in their gaze. Strangely, she suddenly felt something gentle and full of warmth flooding into the back of her head. She shook her head. This was very strange. Then, she realized that the pair of eyes belonged to the little queen.

She backed up hastily, not daring to breathe. This was very bad. She might have hurt the little queen very badly since the dragonets were always very fragile at birth and could easily be hurt, and everyone would be furious with her, especially Mara. She quickly glanced at the dragonet for injuries and then dashed off in the right direction towards the exit, which was now on her right.

With no more obstacles in her way, she made good time and reached the exit just as the tenth pairing exited. The boy and his dragonet were too busy with each other to notice her. She paused in the archway, giving herself time to rest after the excitement of her run. She was relieved that it was over. That was too close a call to her liking. She could have done very great damage back there.

She quickly checked under her feet. She winced. She had run them to the bone. They would need tending and bandaging immediately. She wanted to leave as soon as possible. Curiosity though, made her hobble back to the archway and peer out to see what was happening now on the hatching ground. She was actually curious to see who would pair up with the queen.

Strangely though, the queen was standing in the middle of the hatching ground staring at the exit. Then, seeing Tam peer out, she started walking towards the exit, away from the girls.

Startled murmurs came from the stands. Some girls ran to the little queen to try to stop her from leaving the grounds since a dragonet usually don't leave the grounds until it has been impressed. No one saw Tam. Mara got to the queen first. She tried to make the queen look at her, but the queen didn't even glance at her. Mara scowled. Others tried too, but in vain.

_Wait for me!_ The thought came to Tam. It was in an urgent voice.

Then, the queen stopped in front of Tam. Tam hadn't realized that she had walked to the middle of the archway. She looked Tam full in the face with her unblinking rainbow eyes.

_Don't you want me?_

It suddenly came to Tam that it was the little queen who was sending these thoughts. The little queen was talking to her. Tam realized what that must mean. She was confused. How did this happen?

_I chose you. Don't you want me?_ Now the thought was very sad.

Tam hastily stroked the queens' head, trying to comfort her. She did not know what to do. This was the first hatching she had been to. Children usually weren't allowed at a hatching.

"Of course I want you Kyreth." Tam smiled in elation. She knew the little queens name. It was said that new riders just knew their dragons name once the dragon has been impressed.

_I'm hungry._

Tam remembered her unfinished breakfast which she had put in her pocket. Now she took it out.

"Would you like this?"

_Yes!_

Tam fed the jerky to Kyreth. Then, remembering that the boys walked through the exit when they'd been paired, Tam hobbled slowly out of the hatching ground with her beautiful golden dragon, Kyreth. She grinned in delight when she realized that she, Tam was going to be a dragon rider.


End file.
